Here are some headlines:
- Impressive double digit growth for the worldwide market;
- Market will pick up in the US, where sales have been sluggish;
- Next generation of mowers driven by improved safety and technological advances;
- As more enter the market, and challenge the incumbents prices will fall.
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Robotic Lawn Mower Brands
- Husqvarna
- Worx / Landroid
- John Deere
- Bosh
- Honda
- Flymo
- Viking
Together these brands account for about 59% of all search traffic, with Husqvarna and Landroid leading the pack.
It's worth pointing out that Husqvarna is something of a pioneer in the marketplace, and has previously sued Worx for patent infringement (source: GreenIndustryPros.com) Meanwhile, they also manufactured for Flymo and Gardena -- or at least there is more than a passing resemblance between Husqvarna's mowers and the Flymo 1200R and Gardena R40Li models.
While Flymo has about 6% of the market, Gardena has less than 2%, based on the research conducted around search terms for robotic lawn mowers in the 12 months up to March 2017.
Robotic Lawn Mower Features
This is backed up by the countless references to reviews, versus comparisons, and other phrases that indicate some kind of pitching brands against each other.
However, it's also worth noting that 12% of searchers were looking for mowers that don't rely on a perimeter wire to delimit the mowing area.
At the same time, there is interest in using solar power for robotic mowers, as well as those that are fitted with GPS. The latter interest might have been sparked by reports in the media of robot mower thefts.
While most results across UK/US/World followed a general trend, it is interesting that the UK seems more interested than the US in kit built mowers, and the US market seems more interested in GPS equipped mowers than any other specific feature (excluding 'best').
The Rise of DIY Robotic Lawn Mowers
An interesting result of the search analysis that wasn't expected was the number of searches using words associated with building your own robotic lawn mower:
- Arduino had the same popularity as Honda;
- Raspberry Pi has the same popularity as Gardena...
- ...as does "Open Source Robot Lawn Mowers"!
It seems that this sector has some interesting times ahead; for retail, kit, and DIY mowers that use advances in modern technology to make cutting your lawn easier, and greener, than every before.
The UK is more interested in kit built robotic mowers. Clearly the hobbyist metrality is alive and well! Ironic really, given that robo mowers are designed to take the work away from you rather than generate it.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree in part, I checked around, and price-wise it's impossible to build a kit for the price of a basic Robomow (see http://robotic-lawn-mower.blogspot.com/2017/05/robomow-rx12u-affordable-robotic-lawn.html).
DeleteAlso, the sales stats for Europe show a year on year increase of 15%, but of course the UK growth rate on its own could be weaker.
There's also something to be said for building your own, and having control over the 'brains' -- I'll be dissecting a kit built robotic mower at a later date, so watch this space!